Kapesovo


Kapesovo is a village in the Zagori region, it is 43 km north of Ioannina. The village is near the Vikos canyon, the view of which is spectacular at certain spots.

Name

Scholar Ioannis Lambridis shortens the place name to the Slavic koupouz, in reference to kapusъ 'turnip', an etymology linguist Kostas Oikonomou states presents phonetic difficulties such as u becoming e, ъ into o and is to be rejected. Linguist Max Vasmer wrote about a non-existent form Kepesovo and considers it a Slavic formation due to the suffix -ovo from a proper noun he links to the Uyghur word käbäs 'proud', a relationship which Oikonomou considers unlikely. Linguist Yordan Zaimov accepted the absence of the Uyghur personal name käbäs in Bulgarian and instead linked the toponym with the Bulgarian kapeš from kapa 'drop' + top and the ending -eš.
Oikonomou said the Slavic origin suffix -оvо became productive in several other languages and it is not mandatory to search for the beginning of each formation in -оvо as being from the Slavic languages. Instead in this instance Oikonomou states the placename is derived from the surname Kapesis, also Kapetsis and the Slavic origin ending -ovo which became productive in Greek.

History

The village was established in the 16th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries Kapesovo was renowned in Epirus for its painters, called Bogades, that worked in dozens of churches from Moscopole to Arta.
Kapesovo experienced a great flourishing until 1860 and this is evident in the great manors with folk wall paintings and churches with paintings in their interior. The church of Aghios Nikolaos, built in 1793, the cultural center and the folkloric museum are some of the village's attractions. In the Paschaleios School, found at 1861, by Konstantinos and Pavlos Paschalis, is kept today one of the four copies of Rigas Fereos chart.
The village also might have been settled by Orthodox Albanians, locally called "Arvanites", who largely came after the 15th century, later assimilating into the local population.
Out of the village is a cobble stone pathway down a steep rocky slope that leads to nearby Vradeto. The pathway is a work of great craftsmanship of Epirotic artisans. Outside of the village, close to Kipoi village is the famous bridge of Kalogeriko or Plakidas.
The first census of the village took place in 1928, 124 people were counted then. In the 2011 census only 51 people were counted living in the village.
The Kapesovites used to migrate mostly to Egypt and the U.S. In Greece, they migrated to Macedonia and Athens.

Personalities

  • Konstantinos and Pavlos Paschalis, merchants and benefactors.
  • Alexis Noutsos, advisor of Ali Pasha.
  • Ioannoutsos Karamesinis, general governor of the 'League of Zagori', 19th century.